TODAY - January 22

 

NIELS’ MORNING GREETINGS

ON: JANUARY 22

New 2021 edition

TODAY’s PERSON:

My modesty prevents me from selecting Today’s Person on this very day 😊 😊 😊

But I will instead send you something much better:   the fantastic poem THE HILL WE CLIMB – written by and performed brilliantly by the 22 year old “American Young Poet” AMANDA GORMER for president Joe Biden’s inauguration the other day:

Listen and watch here:   THE HILL WE CLIMB

And HERE is the text.

Don’t you agree??!!   Almost the very best birthday present you can get 😊

See photo below.

 

TODAY’s LENGTH:

This day is here in Belgium now 48 minutes longer than December 21. Its length is 8 hours and 45 minutes – from 08.31 to 17.17.

See more – also in English – about where you are on:  www.dagenslaengde.dk

 

TODAY’s NAME:

This day is called VINCENT’s DAY. It has its name from a Spanish male nurse Vincent ( Vincentius ) in Zaragoza.  He was in 304 AC killed by the Roman emperor Dioclecian’s troops because of his faith. First he was perforated by lances, and then he was grilled over a fire. The legend tells that his prison after his death was transformed into a flower garden by God J

 

Vincent is the patron for Portugal and also for  wine growing J

 

The day’s name in Belgium is the same:  SAINT VINCENT

TODAY’s EVENT:

1972:  Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway sign in Brussels the treaty on membership of the EEC.

 

TODAY’s QUESTION:

The Köpenick event – what was that? And what does it symbolize?

This expression comes from an event in 1906.  A shoemaker in Berlin, Wilhelm Voigt (1849-1922) – former prisoner and a poor guy to look at – took in the German town of Köpenick outside Berlin the uniform of a military officer and behaved like a captain in the imperial guard. He commanded a group of soldiers to follow him to the City Hall, where they arrested the authorities and took the city’s money box with 4000 Mark. After that he disappeared. But he was caught quite quickly afterwards.

After two years he was pardoned by emperor Wilhelm and was freed from prison. He became a popular hero in Germany. Now he wrote a book about the event. It was later also made into a film. The event was used by Voigt and many others to make the Prussian authorities look like fools with their obedience to military uniforms.

When the expression a Köpenick event or affair is used now and then today it means that somebody makes fun of the authorities.

 

42 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT EUROPE:

EUROPE AT WORK     www.europe-at-work.be

 

QUESTION FOR TOMORROW:

Blue blood  - where does that come from? And what does it mean?

 

TODAY’s QUOTE & FAMOUS PEOPLE :

1.  Yesterday’s quote:

A real leader has to be able to swin in the fountain of the people.

       This was once said by the Soviet communist dictator Vladimir Lenin, born  

            Uljanow.

2.  Today’s quote:

Many women are only satisfied with their doctor, when they look badly in

a fascinating way.

Who has said that?

3.  Famous people born on this day:

1561:  Francis Bacon  ( died 1626 )

1729:  Gotthold Lessing  ( died 1781 )

1788:  George Gordon Byron  ( died 1824 )

1849:  August Strindberg  ( died 1912 )

1909:  U Thant  ( died 1974 )

 

4.  Famous people died on this day:

1901:  Queen Victoria ( 82 years )

1973:  Lyndon B. Johnson  ( 65 years )

1975:  Clara Pontoppidan  ( 87 years )

2007:  Abbé Pierre  ( 95 years )

 

Niels Jørgen Thøgersen

niels4europe@gmail.com  

www.simplesite.com/kimbrer   +  EUROPE AT WORK   www.europe-at-work.be